david and goliath Archives - City the Kitty

Colorado Veterinary Medical Association Fights The Declaw Ban in Denver. Here’s Why.

November 5, 2017 the Denver City Council unanimously passed the anti-declaw bill and then on November 13, 2017 the City Council unanimously approved the anti-declawing ordinance. Declawing is illegal in the city of Denver!
The Colorado Veterinary Medical Association is the only organization that fought to stop this bill so their vets can keep declawing cats.

My team of researchers did a survey of vet practices in the city of Denver after the Denver City Council voted 11-0 to ban declawing. I wanted to see how the vet practices in Denver address declawing and if word had gotten out that declawing was going to be illegal.
My researchers posed as cat owners who were checking on a price to get their cat declawed. This research was conducted from Nov. 7-9, 2017.

Did the Colorado VetMed Association Pay The Denver Post Columnist For The Opinion Piece About The Denver Anti-Declawing Bill?

Krista Kafer, a Denver Post columnist, wrote an opinion piece about the anti-declawing bill in Denver. Here it is. [button href=”http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/26/sadly-denvers-proposed-cat-declawing-ordinance-would-hurt-some-cats/” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] Denver Post Opinion Piece About the Anti-declawing bill in Denver[/button] My mom sent an email to Krista Kafer on October 27, 2017, asking her some questions and also sent her lots of […]

Clairabelle, the declawed kitty who is suffering from her amputations

In 2015 I adopted a 5 year old calico that was front paw declawed. She was declawed with her spay surgery.
I was told that she is a pure breed straight ear Scottish fold.
I picked her up in a freak snowstorm at 4 am because her former owner was leaving on vacation and would be dropping her at the vet for euthanasia if I couldn’t get her that morning. They said she was having cat pan issues. I was certain I could help her and I fell in love with the pictures they sent me of her. I’m happy to say that we never had any pan issues.
She is getting older and I noticed that her right leg was sensitive sometimes after she would jump down off the furniture. Lately, she is limping most of the time. I can feel a pointed piece of what I think is bone in her sore toe.
She is a love bug but when she is hurting she will gently bite my hand while I’m checking her feet. I love her dearly and I know she was destined to be my baby for the remainder of her days

Buddy The Declawed Cat

The cat’s paws were scarred deeply in the back, with declawed stumps in the front. Affectionately known as “Buddy”, the cat pees outside the litter box, and is a powerful biter. It’s obvious why his owners threw him out of the house. How he survived outdoors was truly a miracle.

Beware, the Banality of Evil

Beware, the banality of evil.

Some old time vets will hang on to the past, using antiquated techniques and medications, because that’s what “they were taught.” They don’t question what is “normal.” Other vets are more innovative and want veterinary medicine to be as progressive as human medicine. State of the art medicine and diagnostics can really help save lives. These vets are willing to learn new, life-saving techniques and medications and therefore eschew the old, the less effective or inhumane.

One Giant Step For Catkind That All Veterinary Practices Should Take

We used to believe that declawing cats saved their lives. We feared that cats with claws would be turned in to the shelters in record numbers, and that we were doing a good thing by making cats more likely to stay in their homes.

As it turns out, the numbers do not bear this out. When areas have stopped declawing, the number of surrendered cats actually dropped. This left us with a question. We know that even under the best of circumstances, a declaw is a major and painful surgery, (and no less so when it is performed with a laser, by the way.) It is an amputation of the end of the cat’s “finger,” not just the removal of the claw itself. And even when performed perfectly, can have life-long complications.

So we wondered, if we weren’t saving cats, and this procedure can be painful to cats, why were we doing this? Although we know furniture destruction can be a problem, it can almost always be prevented with the right techniques. Besides, when it comes down to it, as veterinarians, our main concern is the cats, not the couches. We have to do what is best for our patients.

Do The Right Thing Cornell Feline Health Center

Regarding Mrs Rhoda Hogan’s $125,500 bequest to Cornell. Cornell said that they used $100,000 to make 6 short videos. Cornell said that $25,500 has been sitting in a Feline Health Center account all these years and say their, “current leadership intends to use the funds to support novel public outreach efforts to encourage non-surgical alternatives to declawing. They are actively evaluating the most effective means for carrying out this plan.”

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